Shook a burst of incoming flak last week with a vertical climb-and-roll at maximum G and escaped a strike.

Firing away deadly missives were a couple of readers who thought I had colossal nerve blaming Barnstable voters – one of my favorite hobbies, by the way – for electing Scott Brown to Congress and more than likely scuttling Ted Kennedy’s legacy and beneficent health care reform by filling in the wrong dot on the ballot.

Here’s what one irate reader fired off, in part: “How dare you chastise the voters in Barnstable for their choice of candidate? Apparently, YOU are entitled to your opinion, but we in Barnstable are NOT entitled to our vote. There are other, more articulate ways to convey your views without insulting the voting populace.”

In retrospect, name one that would get a reaction like this. First, you are entitled to your vote and you are entitled, as per the dictates of the First Amendment, to be criticized for it and just about anything else you might do in the public forum

Another glib reader, a fellow critic and friend, let loose a sidewinder that gave me a start just as I leveled off at 40,000 feet, forcing me into a corkscrew roll and dive while releasing chaff to ward off the deadly incoming:

His view: “It's rare indeed for me to disagree with you, Paul, but I don't think you're justified in taking ‘Barnstable voters’ to task for having -- in effect -- voted against Healthcare reform per se, when they're merely reflecting a national majority of 58% opposing the Democrats' plan. That plan has been disfavored by the citizenry (however influenced by shameless RNC propaganda) in every monthly Rasmussen poll since Obama's inauguration. In my opinion, MA Republicans didn't win the special election, the Democrats lost it to: (1) populism, (2) having nominated a lackluster candidate who played wonky Al Gore to Brown's folksy Dubya, and (3) disaffected Independents sick of the gridlock in Washington (caused, however ironically, by RNC lockstep obstructionism).”

What? Voters are blameless, exempt from criticism? Since when?

Who elected George W. Bush – not once, but twice (albeit some say he stole the first one in Florida)? Who stood by while Bush took us into the Iraq war under numerous false pretenses and a blatant act of misplaced aggression? The voter.

Who stood by while Congress unshackled banks and Big Biz that led to the recessionary debacle we’ve all had to endure with personal hardships? The voter.

Who loves to sit in the bars and coffee shops to criticize, berate, rebuke, scold, tell off, reprimand, censure, chide, make fun of, second-guess and admonish politicians? The voter. And in a quid pro quo, who runs away from publicly disparaging the voter? The politicians.

Who thinks Congress is doing a terrible job but traditionally - as though Congress were royalty – re-elects the very same people they accuse? The voter.

Voters have been personally shielded from criticism by the secret ballot, but not from the cumulative results.

Who criticizes the CEO that gets a $40 million bonus for doing a lousy job and driving a business into the ground, then wants to escape criticism for letting it happen? The voter.

In local elections particularly, the voter in Barnstable is practically a non-entity. One need only look at recent elections drawing fewer than 20 percent of the electorate as though saying they don’t really give a hoot who is doing what or how much it costs. Don’t bother me, I’m watching TV.

A classic case was the recent recall election of a town councilor who a majority of voters wanted to oust and voted that way, but failed because not enough voters showed up to fulfill a 20-percent turnout and save some of their neighbors from financial ruin. They shouldn’t be criticized?

One might agree there were “more articulate ways to convey your views without insulting the voting populace.” One could have referred to Brown supporters as Brownosers; or one could have noted that his constituency thought the naked truth meant posing in front of cameras in one’s birthday suit for Cosmopolitan.

And one could have asked a simple question in answer to Brown’s contention that his daughters are “available.”

For what?

According to female talk shows, Massachusetts elected “a hunk” to Congress. Now that should solve all our problems, eh?

From the prince of cynics, the only agent lower than a misguided, uninformed or mean-spirited voter is a voter who doesn’t vote…and, according to some, the intemperate curmudgeon who bothers to point that out.

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